Surgo and Mental Health America sound alarm on America’s COVID-19 mental health crisis

To raise awareness ahead of World Mental Health Day (October 10), Surgo Foundation and Mental Health America are releasing a report that identifies 13 U.S. cities where COVID-19 vulnerability and poor mental health overlap: Camden, N.J.; Reading, Pa.; Detroit, Mich.; Springdale, Ark.; Passaic, N.J.; Allentown, Pa.; Rochester, N.Y.; New Bedford, Mass.; Albany, Ga.; Buffalo, N.Y.; San Bernardino, Calif.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Trenton, N.J.

The report, “The COVID Mental Health Crisis in America’s Most Vulnerable Communities,” also offers policy recommendations to help state and local policymakers, philanthropists, community based health organizations, patient advocates, and others prioritize responses and planning.

Nonprofit Aid Visualizer (NAVi) uses COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index to help donors identify nonprofits serving most vulnerable communities

A new web-based charitable mapping tool allows donors to easily identify charitable giving opportunities in the U.S. communities most vulnerable to COVID-19.  The Nonprofit Aid Visualizer (NAVi) includes more than 300,000 community nonprofits, large and small, that are accepting donations for coronavirus relief.

Powered by Vanguard Charitable in direct response to input from donors who were looking for meaningful ways to give back during the pandemic, NAVi leverages data from Surgo’s U.S. COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI),which is featured as a CDC resource for federal, state, and local responders.

“We always intended the COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index to be used for good, but Vanguard Charitable helped us see how we could take the power of its data to a whole new level,” said Dr. Sema Sgaier, co-founder and executive director of Surgo Foundation. “We are delighted that this new, free tool makes it easy for people to support the charities working hard behind the scenes to support and rebuild vulnerable communities.”

Donors can use the tool -- available at www.vanguardcharitable.org/map -- to search for charities based on three criteria: a community’s vulnerability as defined by the CCVI; its COVID-19 incidence rate; and the local nonprofits that are focusing on COVID-19 related response and recovery efforts.

“Our donors told us that they want opportunities to help the most vulnerable communities right now -- communities that will have a very hard time recovering from the health, social, and economic consequences of COVID-19 without extra support,” said Jane Greenfield, president of Vanguard Charitable. “Our new tool gives donors the ability to uncover charities supporting COVID-19 that align with their passions in America’s most vulnerable communities.”

New Surgo analysis identifies six college football towns where loosened restrictions, COVID-19 risk factors converge

As college football season heats up, football conferences loosen their health restrictions, and the CDC releases a new study showing increasing COVID-19 cases among college-aged people, Surgo Foundation has released a new analysis showing six college communities that it warns are especially vulnerable to a COVID-19 outbreak: University of Oregon/Lane County, OR; Rutgers University/Middlesex County, NJ; Clemson/Pickens County, SC; University of Louisville/Jefferson County, KY; University of Virginia/Albemarle County, VA; and University of Washington/King County, WA.

“We see a real danger zone in these six communities, with converging factors that increase the risk of COVID transmission to people who are at risk for severe illness,” said Sema Sgaier, co-founder and executive director of Surgo Foundation. “Adding potential super-spreader events like football games and tailgate parties in communities that are already highly vulnerable to COVID-19 compounds the threat and warrants our immediate attention.”